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November 27, 2002
Holiday Statistics and Trivia
Do you know what holiday gift most adults will give each other? Or how much department store inventories fluctuate this time of year? Or how to track Santa on the Web? Here are some fun facts.
The holidays usher in a flurry of activity across the country—we shop, decorate, stock inventory and most of all, we spend money during this busy season. To give you an idea of what the nation will be up to, we rounded up some holiday trivia and projections for the month.
Gifts
Percentage of U.S. households expected to purchase at least one consumer electronics product as a gift this holiday season: 78%
Top consumer electronics products: DVD players and digital cameras
Number of friends/co-workers/relatives for which the typical U.S. household purchases gifts: Up to 14
Top gift for adults this holiday season: Apparel. In the latest National Retail Federation (NRF) survey, which polled over 8,500 consumers, 59.3% of respondents said that they would purchase clothing or clothing accessories as presents this season.
Other hot gifts for adults: Books, CDs and DVDs (58.5%), gift cards/gift certificates (45%) and toys (38.6%)
Hottest toy for girls: Barbie. A whopping 46.7% of NRF survey participants said they plan to buy Barbie merchandise, especially Rapunzel Barbie.
Hottest toy for boys: Less clear-cut, with 9.2% eyeing Play Station-related items, 8% favoring Spider-man and 5.9% pursuing Hot Wheels.
Number of establishments around the U.S. that primarily manufactured dolls and stuffed toys in 1999: 217. Their total shipments—$359 million.
Most frequently sold gift certificate denomination: $25
Average amount of gift certificate sales per mall last holiday season: $598,643
Shopping
This holiday season, consumers are expected to spend: An average of $649 on holiday gifts, decorations, cards, candy and food. Last holiday's average was $632.
Top 3 holiday shopping days in 2001: Saturday, December 22; Saturday, December 15; and Friday, December 21
How far along are we on our holiday shopping? Not far. According to the Nov. 19 NRF survey, only 2.7% of consumers have completed their holiday shopping—even though many got an early start (almost 40% of respondents said they started gift hunting in October or earlier). In fact, 64.6% of participants have done less than 10% of their shopping. Young adults are even further behind—almost 81.7% of 18-24 year olds have more than 90% of their shopping to finish up.
Value of e-commerce sales between October and December 2000: $8.9 billion
Value of mail-order sales in Dec. 2000, by far the year's top month: $12.9 billion
Estimated 2002 holiday season revenues: $209.3 billion, says the NRF. This figure represents a 4% increase over last year's holiday sales totals.
Number of malls and shopping centers throughout the country in 2000: 45,115—almost 9,000 more than the 1990 total.
States with the most shopping centers: California (6,044), followed by Florida (3,452), Texas (3,045) and Illinois (2,175)
The top 2 most frequently played holiday songs in malls last year: Jingle Bells, White Christmas
Amount by which the nation's department stores (not including leased departments) increased their inventories between the end of August and the end of November 2000: 24%
Amount by which this built-up inventory dropped in the last month of 2000: 23%
Average number of gifts that were wrapped per mall last holiday season: 3,709
Santa
The average number of children who visited Santa Claus, per mall, in 2001: 10,119
Do you have kids and want to have some fun tracking Santa's whereabouts on Christmas Eve? Go to: http://www.noradsanta.org/
Christmas Decorations
The average amount that a shopping center spends on holiday season decorations: $22,998
The amount U.S. farmers received from Christmas tree sales in 2000: $473 million
The country's Christmas tree capital: Oregon, which generated over one-fourth of total Christmas tree sales
Value of U.S. imports of Christmas tree ornaments from China, the leading exporter of such items, between January and August 2001: $592 million
Value of U.S. imports of artificial Christmas trees from China, the top exporter: $62 million
Sources: Facts for Features: The Holiday Season
U.S. Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01ff17.html
ICSC Holiday Fun Facts 2002
International Council of Shopping Centers
http://www.icsc.org/FunFacts02.pdf
Daily Sales Comparison: Top Ten Holiday Shopping Days (1996-2001)
International Council of Shopping Centers
http://www.icsc.org/TopTen02.pdf
Rapunzel Barbie Lets Down Her Hair, According to Latest NRF Holiday Survey
Press Release, Nov. 19, 2002
http://www.nrf.com/content/default.asp?folder=press/release2002&file=holiday2nd1102.htm&bhcp=1
Hunting for Holiday Bargains, Cautious Consumers Still Spending,
According to Latest NRF Holiday Survey
Press Release, Oct. 16, 2002
http://www.nrf.com/content/default.asp?folder=press/release2002&file=HolidaySales.htm&bhcp=1
Consumer Electronics Will Be Big This Holiday Season
Retail Merchandiser, Oct. 15, 2002
http://www.retail-merchandiser.com/retailmerchandiser/search/search_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1742023
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Comment
5 CommentsA simple list of why Artificial Christmas Trees are better than real Christmas trees.
Artificial Christmas trees last longer than real trees.
Artificial Christmas trees are safer than real trees because they are not a fire hazard.
Studies show that plastic artificial Christmas trees are thrown out after ten years.
There is no hassle in buying artificial Christmas trees because they are found in many shops around Christmas.
Artificial Christmas trees can be decorated with tinsel or foliage coloured tinsel.
Artificial Christmas trees are generally inexpensive, because they are made out of cheap inexpensive materials whereas many cheaper live trees are of poor quality as well as they deteriorate quickly. Shop around to find a tree that you like within your price limit!
Artificial Christmas trees don't litter the floor with pine needles like real trees do.
Artificial Christmas trees don't bother you if you don't like the smell of pine or have allergies.
If you happen to like the smell of pine you can buy a special pine spray for your artificial Christmas trees.
Artificial Christmas trees can't rot like real trees can.
Artificial Christmas trees are easy to assemble and easy to store away.
Artificial Christmas trees don't weigh much.
On artificial trees: The symbolism and scent simply aren't there...
And real trees don't rot if you don't put them up in November!
November 20, 2005 4:03 PMChristmas Trees aren't a hassle at all if you don't put them up at all. They're decorations for the Greek Sun God holiday Dec 25th during the Middle Ages anyway, commemorating creation worship, and we Christians adapted the tradition so as not to cause war between the Christian and Pagan nations during 325 AD, and further decided to celebrate Jesus' birth on the same day as the Greek Sun God celebration so as to "unite" the different sides of the coin at the same time of the year.
So if you ask me, do away with the trees, and celebrate Jesus' birth.
(But PS - this was just a history lesson - I like Christmas Trees.)
December 6, 2007 10:23 PM
